Merry [Belated] Christmas everyone!
And for those that dont celebrate christmas, hope you are enjoying/enjoyed your day off!

In Japan, Christmas isnt a public holiday. Thankfully it wasnt a weekday this year so we didnt have to work on Christmas day. Its nice to be not working on Christmas for a change heehee
FYI, Christmas isnt the family holiday in Japan like it is in countries such as Australia, USA or UK. Its usually celebrated in Japan with friends or SOs [significant others..ie your boyfriend or girlfriend]
New Year is the big traditional holiday here in Japan and thats definetely spent with your family. ^^ I’ll be doing a new year post too so you guys can see what japanese people get up to during then!

Say Hello to Frostie!

Not the most original name for a snowman XD Isnt he cute? He lights up and changes color! He’s solar powered too..which is good and bad. Good for the environment..bad cos its winter now and if there isnt enough sun or if its raining that day, he doesnt get charged enough to light up for long XD He’s perfect in Australia though..where its summer right now!

Wish i had a better pic of the tree this year but its situated right in front of my window and the window glare makes it hard to take a pic of. Its quite sparse as well. XD We couldnt find most of our tree decorations so had to buy some new ones. The lights on it are solar powered as well!

I forgot to take a photo of this on my camera so i’m going to post the pic i posted on twitter

In case you cant tell, its Merry Christmas written out in sparkly pipe cleaners XD AHAHA isnt it sad?

Actually i didnt have a lot of decorations up around the house [like i said..its not a big holiday here] but then the husband’s family [he's is from Australia] decided we had to do this huge webcam session and the husband moved the webcam to the living room. Hence i had to frantically decorate the living room in holiday cheer. The only thing was..most decorations were sold out in the store by then [this is 2 days before christmas] so i resorted to some rather odd diy.

And if u thought the sparkly pipe cleaners looked odd…

Yup your eyes do not fail you, that is indeed a trio of caramel corn in christmas packaging hanging on the wall.
Like i said..decorations were hard to come by and i was desperate. The in-laws thought it was really cute though [they didnt realise it was caramel corn...i think]

Anyway..onto the christmas feasting! XD
On Christmas Eve, i had a small family/friends gathering at my place

It was a potluck of sorts.

Aussie Beef pie

Inari Sushi

Mixed Sushi platter

There was a whole bunch of other foods as well [like potato wedges, chips, salad etc] but i didnt get round to taking pictures.

And there was Christmas Cake

From Wikipedia :”In Japan, Christmas cakes are traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve. They are simply a sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream, often decorated with strawberries, and usually topped with Christmas chocolates or other seasonal fruit.”
Btw i posted that pic on twitter…[my twitter is yumeko55] via instagram [username is bittenbefore]

And then it was Christmas.
Not sure if you are familiar with this but in Japan..Christmas is often associated with..fried chicken. I dont know when/how it started but thats the popular notion here. Supermarkets are stocked with fried chicken and KFC makes a HUGE profit during this season. This year, Mcdonald’s in Japan is also taking part!

They put out a special box set called the iCon’ Box.

Its probably way too much food for me and the husband [yeah it was just the two of us on Christmas day]

But we finished it anyway XD

It came with 3 exclusive food straps

In case u didnt know, McDonald’s gave out food straps a few months ago when you bought an L sized combo meal. It must have been a success as they restarted that campaign this month but with 6 new food straps [breakfast menu items] The 3 food straps above only come with the iCon’ box and is not part of the current/previous food strap campaign.

Here’s a pic of the current campaign taken from the Mcdonald’s website

The iCon box exclusives are the one in the last row [left pic]
The previous campaign items are the ones in the last row [right pic]
FYI these straps are quite big. About the size of a christmas tree decoration. Far too big to hang on one’s phone [u could if u wanted to i suppose?]

Ok that’s it for Christmas news. No i wont be posting pics of what i got for Christmas XD

Speaking of gifts, I just want to make a mini annoucement here.
Over the years, i have exchanged parcels/gifts with many of you and your kindness/generosity has been a huge part of my life. However in 2011, i would like to ask that you guys no longer send me anything in the mail unless i paid for it directly like a CP [custom purchase].
It relates to a personal resolution for 2011 which i dont wish to discuss here in a public forum. [if you are close to me/swap a lot with me, chances are, i already emailed you] I have finally completed all the outstanding swaps/gift exchanging so i would like to start fresh in 2011.
If you sent me something already, dont worry, i will send something back asap. Or if you think i owe you a package, please let me know? I know this a little weird sorta announcement but i have my reasons and i hope you guys can respect this ^^
Also please please PLEASE dont be offended and think i am being ungrateful or snobby,i am so grateful and appreciative to everyone for their kindness and many times these packages have caught me on a day where i need cheering up the most. This is just something i need to do in 2011. ^^;;

And on a lighter note…

Have a fabulous holiday with your friends and Family!!
XOXO Yumeko

p.s i am slowly removing followers on my old twitter account and adding them on my new one. so if you get dropped, please please please dont get hurt over it cos i am adding u on my new one!!! if i missed u somehow, just add me at yumeko55!!! its a public account and everyone is welcome is add me! my old account is very unreliable so i might delete it soon [i am keeping it at the moment as i want to keep that username XD] so i hope u will check out my new twitter account so we stay in touch.